What Will the Rest of 2024 Look like in the Real Estate Market?

Summer is coming to an end, and as we get ready to head into fall and winter, many people are wondering what the real estate market will look like for the rest of the year. While there’s no way to know for sure, there are expert predictions that can give you a sense of what you might expect from the market in the coming months.

So what, exactly, are those predictions?

A recent article from realtor.com highlighted expert predictions from their midyear real estate forecast, including:

• Mortgage rates will fall. According to realtor.com’s Chief Economist, Danielle Hale, there are economic markers (such as rising unemployment rates) that signal a likely rate cut from the Federal Reserve this fall. And while they’re not directly correlated, mortgage interest rates tend to follow Fed rates, and, as such, Hale forecasts lower interest rates come fall.
• Home prices will remain high. Home prices have remained high for the first half of 2024, and Hale doesn’t expect that to change in the latter part of the year. In fact, the realtor.com economic team predicts home prices will increase 4.6 percent by the end of 2024.
• More sellers. A few years ago, interest rates hit historic lows, and many homeowners that locked in mortgages at those low interest rates have been extremely reluctant to sell in the current high-interest market, which caused serious inventory issues. But that seems to be changing — according to realtor.com’s data, during the first half of 2024, available home inventory increased 35 percent year-over-year — a trend they expect to continue, particularly if interest rates drop in the fall.